ABSTRACT
This book updates and expands upon Richardson’s Policy Styles in Western Europe (1982), which explored whether distinct cultural and institutional features of modern states in the 1980s had implications for the making and implementation of public policy within them. The original collection examined similarities and differences between West Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands in terms of their propensity to take anticipatory or reactive decisions, and whether they tended to do so in a top-down/state driven or bottom-up/societally driven manner. This excellent and groundbreaking study continues to be essential reading in public policy courses and as a foundation for policy studies. In light of the fundamental changes – such as globalization and democratization – that have affected modern states since 1982, this volume seeks to revisit, update, and expand Richardson’s concept so as to encompass countries around the world – not just those in Western Europe and the OECD. The working hypothesis of the chapters contained herein is that policy styles vary by and within regimes. The contributions endeavour to establish if this is true – whether there is more variation within or across regimes, and what exactly the variation within them is.
